


Please don't take my sunshine away (AKA That heart wrenching moment when your mom might be dead)

by Robinsnose



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020), Harley Quinn (Comics)
Genre: Birds of Prey, Birds of Prey fam, Cassandra Cain is Harley Quinn's daughter, Cassandra Cain is Harley's protege, Fuck Joker, Harley Quinn is Awesome, Watched Birds of Prey like five minutes ago and typed this up, and a wacko Harlequin, assassin girls, batfam, i love them, nonofficially though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:48:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23540347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Robinsnose/pseuds/Robinsnose
Summary: When Cassandra Cain is 12, Harley freaking Quinn takes her under her wing as a protege.When she's 18 and 1/2, she jumps into her long time mentor's arms, sobbing.Her sunshine is back.
Relationships: Cassandra Cain & Barbara Gordon, Cassandra Cain & Bruce Wayne, Cassandra Cain & Dinah Lance, Cassandra Cain & Harleen Quinzel, Cassandra Cain & Harley Quinn, Cassandra Cain & Helena Bertinelli, Cassandra Cain & Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain & Renee Montoya, Cassandra Cain & Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Duke Thomas & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Damian Wayne & Dick Grayson & Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Harley Quinn & Helena Bertinelli & Renee Montoya & Dinah Lance, Stephanie Brown & Cassandra Cain & Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Damian Wayne, batfam - Relationship
Comments: 5
Kudos: 208





	Please don't take my sunshine away (AKA That heart wrenching moment when your mom might be dead)

**Author's Note:**

> I was trying to add the Birds of Prey movie to the timeline I have in my head of DC Universe and my head worked it's magic. Please.... anyone... make more books where Harley and Bruce are friends and/or books where Cassandra knows Harley 😭😭😭 I'm BEGGING

When Cassie Cain first meets Harley Quinn, she's 12 and her life is currently off the _**fucking**_ rails. People are after her because she took some dude's diamond and ate it, and Harley Quinn is the only person who doesn't want to cut it out of her. 

They bond, like one casually does with the ex of 'the joker of genocide', and team up with Renee Montoya, Helena Bertinelli, and Dinah Lance (the lady who occasionally gave her money because her parents are shit). They make a pretty good team, even if they _were_ on the edge of killing each other for the past few months, and Cassie even gets to explode the big bad guy! It's awesome, basically, and Harley takes her in as her _protege_ (fancy word ain't that?). 

They all move in together into a fancy manor after Helena finds the diamond Harley pawned off and sells the old Bertinelli Manor (too many bad memories). Cassie takes her childhood trauma of her crazy foster parents, bundles it up, and throws it away. She's her own woman now, and hell if anyone took that title away from her. 

"Awww, you're so grown up, munchkin!" Harley squeals, clapping and rubbing Cassie's cheeks. Cassie grins proudly. The others just stare, very amused with the empowering rant she gave in the living room about being a grown woman. 

When Cass meets Batman, she's 14, and soon after that meets Bruce Wayne. After two years of being trained by badass women, she puts his identity together the second after meeting both of them, but doesn't outright say it. Harley knows, though. Harley _always_ knows. 

Her meeting with Batman goes a bit awkwardly, since he's bleeding out on the couch and Harley is stitching his wounds. 

"I'm a psychiatrist!" She yells, "Not a fucking medical doctor, Batsy! You know this, you were the one studying to be the medical doctor!" Batman sighs. 

"That's why I dropped out." Cass blinks. Who woulda thought The Batman dropped out? And was friends with Harley? "You were the closest person I could trust, and I know you know how to patch me up." He explain, looking into her mentor's eyes. Harley sighs, exasperated, until her face lights up and she giggles, looking in Cass' direction. 

"Come on Cassie, meet my bessstttt frieeendd, Batsy! B, meet my protege, Cassie!" Cass doesn't comprehend Batman being Harley's 'best friend' (he sighs anyway, but also tilts his head like he's thinking about it). She hyper-focuses on the nickname Harley calls her. 

"Harrleeeyy I told ya don't call me thaaattt!" She whines, flushing a bit pink. She's in the company of someone she doesn't know and the first thing her mo-... mentor does is call her the nickname she was called two years ago. She prefers Cass now, excuse her. It's elegant, simple, and also calls for some pretty sick rhymes. 

Batman's lips twitch in amusement at the both of them. Harley giggles madly as she stitches up the man's wounds. Underneath the mask, Bruce's eyes fill with a soft and gentle emotion. Harley found people who actually care about her, and she's got a non-official kid now. That's a big improvement for someone who got manipulated by an abusive, psychotic, monster. His eyes meet his long time friend's and the same message passes between them. 

_Fuck you, Joker._

  
When Cassie is 15, she accidentally calls Harley mom. Everyone seems to accept it. In fact, they don't even notice until Cass and Harley both freeze up and start giggling. It goes like this. 

"Thank you, mom." She laughs into Harley's tight embrace. It's her 15th birthday, and she's grateful every time she has a birthday, because she's only had a few with the Birds of Prey. It all seems so natural, the word slips out. Harley smiles and shakes her head softly. 

"You ain't gotta thank me, munch-" They both realize at the same time. Cassandra goes to make an excuse, to apologize, but Harley smiles big and looks down at her with soft eyes. Cassie nervously smiles back and they both start laughing.   
  
She calls Harley Quinn mom now, and Harleen when she needs to get her mentor to go to sleep after a few nights of not sleeping. Her life is crazy, but she wouldn't trade it for anything. She loves it. 

Tragedy strikes when Cassandra turns 16. She's been raised by a group of (pretty much) assassins and a mad woman she calls mom, and she was content. It didn't last, she should've known that. 

Harley is crying, something she never does seriously. The only times she cries is when she drops food, or when Cassie does something she's really proud of. It's what scares her the most. It's not the fact that they're running, or that the group had to split up. No. It's the fact that her mom is crying and blood is pouring out of her cuts. Cassandra can't talk, her voice isn't working, and she's in shock. 

Harley runs with her, leaves Cassandra on the steps on Wayne Manor, knocks, and runs away. She's whispers apologies into Cassie's head, kisses her forehead and cheeks, and then runs off. By the time the door opens, Harley is long gone. Cassandra is scared. 

Bruce's butler opens the door.

"Can I help you, Miss?" Cassandra shakily takes a breath and tries to speak. The words don't come out, she grimaces. 

'I need Bruce, Harley took me here.' She signs with her hands, mentally thanking the brilliant Helena, who taught all of them different languages and how to fight better. She hopes the god damn butler of batman understands sign language, cause if not she'll probably start slamming her head into the concrete. Thankfully, he does. He takes a moment to look over her and motions for her to come in. There's a boy in the kitchen, peeking out to get a glimpse of who knocked on the door. Cassandra ignores him and tries to get herself to stop shaking as the man leads her to what she assumes is Bruce's office. Bruce comes out, only to see Cass and Alfred about to knock, and he drags the, both inside. 

"What did Harley do now?" He sighs, taking a look at Cass. There's both wet and dried blood on her. It's in her hair, her hair that Harley chopped chin length. Cass breathes out, trembling, and shakes her head. Bruce stiffens, taking her view in. He narrows his eyes before they widen, a hint of fear is in them. "What happened, Cassie?" She heaves out a dry sob, shaking her head. 

'Don't call me that.' She signs. Harley calls her that. He can call her that when her mom is here. She wants Harley. Where's Harley? 

"What happened?" He repeats, concerned. He may not act like it, but he cared heavily for Harley. She was, dare he say it, his best friend. 

'Attacked." She signs, crying. 'Blood everywhere, split up, Mom left me and ran to fight." 

Bruce closes his eyes and rubs his face, looking like he just aged a good fifty years. He sucks in a breath in through his teeth and exhales it. "I'll start looking for her and interrogating people on the streets. Stay here, clean up. I'll make a cover story for you to stay here for a bit, until everyone's safe." Cassandra doesn't like the implication that. It'll take a while to see Harley, but she nods. Bruce puts his hands on her face and pulls her into a hug. When he pulls back, Cassandra is silently crying. "Show her to a room, please, Alfred." The butler nods. 

Cassandra just wants her mom back. 

  
When's she's 17, she's the Black Bat. Her 'siblings', the people she lives with, were told that she was raised by assassins and is partially mute. It's not a lie, truth be told. Her voice can work a bit now without the gross feeling of bile and hurt crawling up her insides. She was raised by a few assassins. 

Harley still hasn't been found, but there's a promising lead, Bruce says. He spends all the time he's able to searching for Harley, even if the others don't know why he's so obsessed with finding her. 

Renee Montoya was found. She was alive, thankfully. She was heavily injured, but alive and healing. She was unable to take in Cassandra, but without telling anyone other than Alfred and Bruce, she visits Renee whenever she can. And Renee? She won't stop searching for Harley and Helena until they're found. 

Dinah was found too. She was alive and well, kicking and screaming, heavily traumatized by whatever happened. She became a hero, keeping her name of Black Canary, and marrying one Oliver Queen, whom she'd had some flings and a non official relationship with previously, apparently. She helps Bruce investigate, try to find where Harley and Helena are. Cassandra spends all her time with Dinah whenever she visits the watchtower or the Queen's place. 

She hopes that wherever they are, Harley and Helena are keeping each other safe. 

"Cass!" She hides a flinch at the name, turning to the voice and finding Jason. She smiles, nodding for him to continue. "Movie night with the others, you wanna join?" 

Cassandra's eyes flick toward the batcave entrance, contemplating, before she looks back at Jason and nods. "Yes." She quietly states, grabbing the hand he holds out and following behind him as he leads her to the theatre room. She sighs as the movie starts, praying to whoever existed, that her mom and Helena are alive. Next to her, Barbara gently touches her hand. Cassandra twitches and looks over, tilting her head. Barbara tilts her head back and Cassandra nods. 

She'll be okay soon. Cause soon, Harley and Helena would be found. Surely, it'd been long enough. 

When she's 18 and 1/2, fireworks start exploding on the ground of the previously exploded ACE Chemicals. Apparently this catches the attention of a lot of villains, because they're roaming around, doing whatever it is bad guys do. 

She and her brothers arrive on a tall roof next to ACE Chemicals in sync with Batman, observing the scene. Batman stand a little closer to Cassandra, on edge with the background of the area. There's a huge pit of fire , but if they look close enough, there's a circle in the middle with breathable air. It's in that circle that the bats and birds spot a woman lying on her side, clutching her arm and her crossbow. There's another woman, blonde hair with messy blue and pink in it, the hairstyle is choppy. Both women are almost entirely covered in dried blood. Then, there's a man. With white skin and green hair, maniacally laughing into the sky. He just so happens to be pointing a gun at a blonde woman. 

Cassandra holds her breath and freezes, recognizing the people, and for a moment she's just Cassie Quinzel, newly taken in by Harley, and blowing up bad guys. Next to her, Bruce freezes up too. 

"Harley..." He whispers, eyes wide and full of awe— and fear. "It's-" 

Cassandra takes off running, launching herself off the building. "MOM!" She screeches, already on the verge of tears. She can hear her brothers' questions and yells in her com, and ignores them. She successfully lands in the circle free of fire, throwing herself onto Joker and kicking, punching, pounding into his bones- 

Harley. 

She freezes. Making sure Joker was barely breathing and unconscious before turning around and locking her eyes on one Harleen Quinzel. 

"Mom..." She breathes out, tears coming without her even noticing. Harley is staring back at her too, on her knees, and her jaw gaping a tiny bit. 

"Cassie?" Harley whimpers. Cassie nods and leaps to hug her, sobbing. "Munchkin... look at how grown you are!" She whispers, caressing Cassie's cheekbones. 

She can't hear her brothers yelling still, too busy hugging her mom and checking up on Aunt Helena until the fire around them is filled with icy mist, and it goes down into nothing. She faintly hears Bruce thank Zatanna for the help before he, too, runs to hold Harley in a tight hug. 

  
When Cassie Quinzel-Wayne is 19, the sunshine in Gotham is shining the brightest it's ever shined. She's content, finally. 


End file.
